Indian Seafood Industry Calls for Single Global Quality Monitoring Agency

INDIA - Seafood exporters of India have demanded for a single international agency to oversee quality control and related issues for export of marine products, writes Basudev Mahapatra.

“Different compliance standards adopted by members of European Union as well as other major seafood importing countries cause hassle and a lot of other problems,” said officials of Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI).

Indian exporters appealed for introduction of WTO-controlled single international agency to check quality and other parameters for export of marine products to various countries.

“We have already represented to the government of India to take up the issue,” said SEAI president V. Padmanabham.

India strictly adheres to parameters recommended by the US, leading consumer of India seafood, and other countries like China, Russia, Japan etc. As a result, number of rejections due to antibiotic residual and other factors in aquaculture products has come down progressively over the years, said a senior official from the ministry of commerce.

To check spread of diseases in farmed shrimps, a task force has been formed by the state government to recommend for setting up state-of-the-art laboratories, said N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India’s largest seafood exporting state.

According to Mathew T. Thomas, the Country Director of US FDA-India, the US has always adopted a totally transparent method for accepting consignments from India and other countries.

“Despite being the seventh largest sea food exporter in the world, Indian seafood industry has a long way to go,” said Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.